PRIME Minister Imran Khan’s austerity campaign is a welcome step. It will help the exchequer to generate wealth without having to go to foreign agencies for assistance. I am of the opinion that besides austerity measures, the Federal Board of Revenue should bring the undocumented economy into the tax net.

The figures speak for themselves. Just one per cent of the population in this nation of 200 million plus souls pays tax. As a first step the government can increase revenue by promoting e-banking and mobile banking. This measure will bring every transaction into the tax net.

The government should also focus on the military’s business enterprises. To paraphrase Dr Ayesha Siddiqa: “The military-business includes schools, colleges, universities, housing societies, banks, fruit farms, fertiliser factories, arms production factories , commercial plots and so on.”

The government should also increase the tax rate across the board on other holy cows, particularly the agriculture sector.

Syed Zakir Ali
Jamshoro

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2018